Vinyl tubing concerns

I searched the forum for this answer and all i can really find is posts that mention using vinyl tubing.

I am preparing to brew AG with a friend and we are getting equipment together.
I have a modified 11 gal kettle w/ 1/2"BV, that I plan on using as HLT and BK.

My question is: I purchased 6' of 1/2"ID clear vinyl tubing today and noticed that the working temperature and pressure was indicated on the outside of the box.
I am not concerned with the pressure value as I do not think that there will be a significant amount of pressure generated in this system.
My concern is that the max temp was indicated as 170 degrees.

So, am I OK to use this line?
Water from HLT to mash tun should rarely get that high... correct?
Wort from MT to kettle should be down in the 150 to 160 range.. OK
And post boil and chilling, the wort should be well below temp.

What risk is there if for some reason I happen to run water higher than 170 degrees through this tube?

I run my HLT at 180*F to insure good pre-heating of the MLT. I've switched to Silicone tubing for everything but cooling and waste water.

Silicone is expensive...but your beer is worth the small expense.

Most of the vinyl tubing I see has a max NSF rating of 140.
I wouldn't go any higher than that for sure.
At higher temps vinyl starts literally breaking down, and will leave some really nasty chemical flavors.
Which your beer will not appreciate.

I got rid of all my vinyl. Used it for a long time but I always noticed a slight twang. Not sure if it was the tubing but I did the experiment someone on here posted about placing a piece of tubing in boiling water, letting it cool and then tasting the water. It tasted like plastic. Your temps are lower but I decided I did not want to take anymore chances and it was a small change that was easy to eliminate. Gone silicone and will never go back.

People always look at me funny when I say that silicone hose is one of my favorite brewery upgrades. So flexible! No more fighting stiff vinyl. I even put silicon hose on my auto-siphon. Still use thick wall vinyl for water hose and to pump wort the 70 feet back to my fermenters, but silicone everywhere else. It's a bit more spendy, but you'll never regret it.

Silicone is all we use at work now. Can be autoclaved to sterilize, wears very well, and can handle moderate pressure. We have some runs in the plant that are 75' with 5/8" tubing. Those are mainly for additives that are filter sterlized into the tank, but on rare occasion we will run product, which is live bactera.

I use vinyl for room temp transfers.

Nothing better than thick walled silicone. Seals great, flexible outside in winter. If you ever question it, boil it in water or bake it in the oven.

Just do not leave it soaking in starsan for extended durations. It will destroy it. Turns it to chalk.

pelipen said:

I use vinyl for room temp transfers.

Nothing better than thick walled silicone. Seals great, flexible outside in winter. If you ever question it, boil it in water or bake it in the oven.

Just do not leave it soaking in starsan for extended durations. It will destroy it. Turns it to chalk.

Click to expand...

and how exactly do you know this?

eastoak said:

and how exactly do you know this?

Click to expand...

hehe. Moderately expensive lesson to pass on. Learn from my mistakes, I make a lot. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Figured I'd just leave it in the bucket until the next brew session a few weeks later. Nope.